Once I had a dream that a creepy little dead girl kept trying to pull my mattress into a dark room. I would roll off it just in time to avoid the room and whatever terrifying nightmares awaited me there. But then I would be back on the mattress, unmoved but not actually awake. I was overcome by sleep. I would force my eyelids open, but then they would fall shut. I would try to spin out of my body because I thought maybe I was close to the astral plane, but that usually just meant that I fell off of the mattress onto the floor, and as I rested to make my next struggled move to get up, I was just back on the mattress in the first position again. Only once was I actually able to get up. But hunched, staggering, and eyes fighting me to stay shut, I made two very sorry steps, collapsed and woke up in the original position on the mattress. When I finally actually awoke, my muscles felt as though I had actually been doing all that, and they were sore for the rest of the day. If anyone else has had this problem help would be greatly appreciated. I've had troubles like this in other dreams as well, usually trying to flee from an attacker. My limbs and muscles only stop functioning properly once I've actually realized that I am dreaming.

I had always this problem in nightmares. I couldn't move well (like fear freezes my whole body). But now I got over this with just not be scared by evil presence and fighting back what ever it is. I think that I can't help you, but to tell you that it's there, in your mind. You have to change something, that only you know.If I just could remember what changed in my life and I overcame this thing, I would tell you, but I can't..

Life is hard. Then you die. Then they throw dirt in your face. Then the worms eat you. Be grateful it happens in that order.

When I was younger, I often had nightmares in which I was being chased and had great difficulty moving. Luckily, I now have few nightmares, and they are mostly related to some troubling TV news story.

I think the difficulty with moving in nightmares is mostly related to the feeling of being psychologically "captured" by the emotion of the situation. It seems to me that past or present life situations and relationships which cause recurrent feelings of conflict and anxiety may trigger nightmares as well as the experience of difficulty moving in lucid dreams.

The book - "Creative Dreaming" by Patricia Garfield - really helped me deal with my nightmares, it also describes innovative ways to incubate dreams to help deal with many life challenges.

Also, the following article summarizes Patricia Garfield's suggestions for working with troubling dreams. "Nightmares And What To Do About Them" by Patricia Garfield - creativedreaming.org